Apr 30, 2010

I've been doing National Poetry Month events on the blog for several years from writing a poem a day to posting about new poets, but this year, I thought it was time to step it up a notch!

So I've corralled some great blogger buddies and poets to contribute in the first ever National Poetry Month Blog Tour. Monica at Monniblog created some great buttons for the occasion, and you'll see some variation of them throughout the month-long tour.

You're probably asking yourself, what will I find on this tour. Never fear, I will be posting a schedule of blogs, their dates, and their topics for you. But first I want to let you know that you too can read poetry, enjoy the places it takes you, and share it with friends and family. Like fiction or nonfiction, poetry just requires some exploration to find the poetry that speaks to you.

Nikki Giovanni says, "I've never 'blogged' before so this is new territory for me. I do poetry though and that is always somewhere in the netherland. I think poetry is employed by truth. I think our job is to tell the truth as we see it. Don’t you just hate a namby-pamby poem? That goes all over the place saying nothing. Poets should be strong in our emotions and our words. That might make us difficult to live with but I do believe easier to love. Poetry is garlic. Not for everyone but those who take it never get caught by werewolves."

Hopefully, this blog tour will express the variety of poetry available and you will find poets and poetry that you connect with. If not, that's OK too, but maybe we can't be friends (LOL).

At the end of the month, I am going to post a poll for you to decide which posts you enjoyed most, and the top three bloggers -- and maybe more, depending on the donations -- will receive a prize for participating. Never fear, there will be prizes for readers as well.

Here on Savvy, I'll be showcasing a variety of contemporary poets, the Virtual Poetry Circles will continue as scheduled, but there will be a few other fiction and nonfiction books featured for pre-scheduled tours.

OK, lets get to the National Poetry Month 2010 Blog Tour Schedule (I'm so happy with the turnout):

April 27: Jen's Book Thoughts follows up with more poems of Reed Farrel Coleman; Linus's Blanket will talk about her experience reading poetry, Reb Livingston's Your Ten Favorite Words, for That's How I Blog show with yours truly.

April 30:Brimful Curiosities will feature read aloud poetry: Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young collected by Jack Prelutsky, All Kinds Of Families by Mary Ann Hoberman, The Wonder Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; Diary of an Eccentric's The Girl talks about Shel Silverstein and his books

Thanks in advance to everyone who is participating!

Here's the Mr. Linky to post your full link from the tour. If you want to hop on the tour and post about poetry during the month and snag a button, you're more than welcome to add your links too!

FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated.

Apr 8, 2010

Elise Paschen's Poetry Speaks Who I Am combines written verse with audio recitation of poetry by the poets themselves on CDs spark young readers' love of poetry and verse. Readers between the ages of 11 and 14 will find poems in this volume that speak to their struggles with love, family, growing into adulthood, and making friends.

"[Paschen says,] For me this poetry is life altering. It's gritty. It's difficult. And it hurts in all the ways that growing hurts. It's meant to be visceral and immediate. It's meant to be experienced." (Page XI)

Gritty and real are the best terms to describe the struggles within these lines of verse, from being the only white kid in school to being a Black person at a time when political correctness suggests you are African-America. But more than that, there are poems about bra shopping -- the stepping stones of becoming a woman -- and the realization that the world is not perfect and that wars do exist.

Mama and I enter into no man's, and I mean no man in sight, land
of frilly lace, night gowns, grandma panties, and support everything.

A wall covered with hundreds of white bras, some with lace, ribbons,
and frills like party favors, as if bras are a cause for celebration.

Some have these dainty ditsy bows in the middle.
That's a nice accent don't you think? Mama says. Isn't that cute?
Like a dumb bow in the middle of the bra will take away some of the
attention from two looking, bulging tissues.

Full of wit and sarcasm, this poem illustrates the angst and embarrassment of the narrator as she shops for bras with her mother under the watchful eye of the sales clerk. A number of poems illustrate these feelings of awkwardness and tenderness between friends and parents.

The audio CD that comes with the book is stunning as each poem is read with emphasis and care either by the poet themselves or a contemporary counterpart. In some cases, the poems are accompanied by ambient noise and/or nature sounds. Some poems will garner young readers' attentions more than others, but overall the CD works.

now hopefully sit
where folks, like cows
in grassy meadows,
stand and browse.

In a yellowed old history
of Jesse James
two earlier owners
had scrawled their names.

I even found
a book my dad
when he was in high school
had once had,

and a book I found --
this is really odd --
was twice as much fun
as my new iPod.

I always get hooked
in this dusty shop.
Like eating popcorn,
it's hard to stop.

Poetry Speaks Who I Am is a wonderful collection of classic and contemporary poems from the likes of Langston Hughes and Lucille Clifton to the contemporary works of Billy Collins and Molly Peacock. Each poem will reach out to young adolescents in new and exciting ways, having them nod their heads in agreement as emotions, situations, and dilemmas are unleashed in verse. Moreover, the poems selected in this volume will not have readers scratching their heads, wondering what it all means. These poems are straight forward and get to the heart of the adolescent matter.

FTC Disclosure: Thanks to Sourcebooks for sending me a free copy of Poetry Speaks Who I Am for review. Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated.

Apr 7, 2010

Some of us are born with an inclination to create beauty and live it no matter what the cost, while others follow traditions and keep their heads low. Vanitha Sankaran's Watermark weaves an intricate tale in the shadow of dark forces that once held sway over the Church and through which a young woman blossoms and carves her path in the world out of love and sacrifice.

"'For crimes of heresy and thoughts against our Church,' he began, 'the condemned who have repented are forthwith instructed to wear the yellow cross of the heretic upon their clothes at all times, so all may know their crimes and trust or mistrust their words and deeds as is just.' He brandished a parchment roll and read off names followed by crimes in his sonorous voice. Relief rose in cries after each name.

Auda watched the archbishop's mouth move. More than ever, he seemed like a puppet." (Page 298 of ARC)

Auda is a mute Albino living in France during the 1300s at the time of the inquisition when heresy and witches are seen even among the innocent. Her father is a papermaker and her sister, Poncia, is a young wife of a merchant in Narbonne, a prospering and sheltered city. Innocent activities in Narbonne can be misconstrued into heresy by those who dislike you, misunderstand you, or simply wish to be devoid of suspicion. Making paper and providing it to anyone, rather than parchment to nobles and the church, is unwise, but Auda and her father have unflappable dreams. Auda wants her voice to be heard -- clearly and loudly -- despite her disability, but already she is an anomaly being a woman of letters.

"'The Italians and the Spainards have sold their broadsheets for years,' her father said, glancing at Auda. 'The Church has done nothing --'

'Because Her eyes are fixed on France.'

'Oc, because France houses her pope, not because of any heresy!' His voice rose. 'Even if paper brought cause for concern, that doesn't put me in the same barrel as witches and heretics.'" (Page 189 of ARC)

Rising fortunes bring her to the forefront of society after being sheltered since her mother's passing, but can Auda handle what is to come, how her life will change, and where her conviction will lead? Watermark transports readers to a time when many in France were carefully watching their own actions and those of their neighbors, looking for sinister subtleties in their behaviors. It will emotionally tug at the heartstrings as Auda learns to come into her own, makes adult decisions, and learns that even simple actions can have hefty consequences and that love can transcend the physical. One of the best books of the year!

About the Author:

Vanitha Sankaran holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University. In addition, her short stories have been published in numerous journals, such as Mindprints, Futures, Prose Ax, and The Midnight Mind. She is at work on her second novel, which is about printmaking in Italy during the High Renaissance.

FTC Disclosure: Thanks to TLC Book Tours, HarperCollins for sending me a free copy of Watermark for review. Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated.

Apr 6, 2010

Carol Snow's novel -- Just Like Me, Only Better -- hits stores today, April 6. The protagonist, Veronica Czalicki, is a housewife who soon finds herself on her own when her husband leaves her for another woman -- the love of his life. She's now a financially struggling single mother, but she has other problems too. She just happens to look like a famous star. Veronica receives some respite from her daily struggles when she's asked to become the star's double.

My office has pale wood floors, sage walls, and three big windows that look out to the street. It has two oak book shelves that I periodically (and futilely) attempt to organize, a comfy blue loveseat, and a really, really big oak desk.

Years, ago, when we were living in Park City, Utah, my husband found the desk through the local PennySaver. According to the seller, in the twenties the desk belonged to the President of Utah Power & Light; on the side there’s a little brass plague that says, “Property of UP&L.” As far as provenance goes, that’s not as cool as if the desk had belonged, to, say, John Steinbeck. (Granted, it’s hard to imagine Steinbeck’s desk making its way to Utah.) But I still like the sense of history. And, you know -- power. (Sorry. That was uncalled for.) The desk has four very deep drawers and a file drawer. We’ve been shoving stuff into those drawers for years. I have no idea what’s in there.

I have a computer on my desk. I use it to answer emails, do research, and waste vast amounts of time. I do most of my writing on a laptop while sitting (slumping) on the comfy blue loveseat. It is terrible for my posture, and I keep thinking I should put the laptop on my desk and sit on one of those big balls that force you to sit up straight or risk falling over. Somehow, I know I’d fall over. Plus, I’d be so uncomfortable that I wouldn’t get any work done.

Mostly, though, I like sitting on the couch because one of my cats usually ends up on my lap. I like to think it’s because they love me and not because my lap is soft and the computer is warm.

Thanks, Carol, for sharing your workspace with us.

I'm not sure how she gets any work done on those adult and teen reads with those cats hanging out all over her desk. It must be great exercise. . . for them.